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Current Environment Analysis Today the world devotes special attention to the question of disability, striving to provide the various facilities required to ensure that every disabled person has work opportunities that will help him or her to become a productive member of society. Various institutions are cooperating in the area for the Disabled in an integrated approach and a programme to ensure that the question of disability will be dealt with in every regard: quality of services offered, ease of procedures followed, current legislation, and standards criteria to be adopted for training and rehabilitation. The approach followed by the Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut Central District (SOLIDERE) - an approach that developed into the present Accessibility for the Disabled, a Design Manual for a Barrier Free Environment, met the requirements of the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the two parties were largely in agreement on both goals and methods of implementation. In physical terms, the provision of a such environment can be undertaken in following complementary domains. One such accepted example is as follows: Site planning: Level of the roads, access paths & parking areas shall be described in the plan along with specification of materials.
Every building should have at least one access to main entrance / exit to the disabled which shall be indicated by proper signage. This entrance shall be approached through a ramp together with stepped entry. The ramp should have a landing after every 9 Metre run and in front of the doorway. Minimum size of landing shall be 1000 X 2000 mm. Access path / walk way: Access path from plot entry and surface parking to building entrance shall be minimum of 1800 mm.
wide having even surface without any step. Slope, if any shall not have gradient greater than 5 %. Selection of floor material shall be made suitably to attract or to guide visually impaired persons (limited to floor material whose colour texture is conspicuously different from that of the surrounding floor material or the material that emit different sound to guide visually impaired persons. Finishes shall have a non-slip surface with texture traversable by a wheel chair. Curbs wherever provided should blend to common level. Parking: For parking of vehicles of disabled people the following provisions shall be made: a) Surface parking for two Equivalent Car Spaces (ECS) shall be provided near entrance for the physically handicapped persons with maximum travel distance of 30 metre from building entrance. (b) The width of parking bay shall be minimum 3. 6 metre. (c) The information stating that the space is reserved for wheel chair users shall be conspicuously displayed. (d) Guiding floor materials shall be provided or a device which guides visually impaired persons with audible signals or other devices which serves the same purpose shall be provided.
Building requirements: The specified facilities for the buildings for disabled persons shall be as follow: 1) Approach to plinth level. 2) Corridor connecting the entrance / exit for the handicapped. 3) Stair-ways. 4) Lift. 5) Toilet. 6) Drinking water. Braille signage shall be provided at the above specified facilities. Approach to Plinth Level: Ramp shall be provided with non-slip material to enter the building minimum clear width of ramp shall be 1800 mm with maximum gradient 1: 12, between top and bottom of the ramp. Length of ramp shall not exceed 9. 00 metres having 800 mm high handrail on both sides extending 300 mm beyond the ramp. Minimum gap from the adjacent wall to the handrail shall be 50 mm. Minimum clear opening for the entrance door shall be 1000 mm.
Threshold shall not be raised more than 12 mm. For stepped approach, size of tread shall not be less than 300 mm and maximum riser shall be 150 mm. Provision of 800 mm high handrails on both sides of the stepped approach similar to the ramped approach shall be made. Corridor connecting the entrance / exit for the disabled: The corridor connecting the entrance / exit for handicapped leading directly outdoors to a place where information concerning the overall use of the specified building can be provided to visually impaired person either by a person or by signs, shall be provided as follows: a) Guiding floor materials shall be provided or devices that emit sound to guide visually impaired persons. (b) The minimum width shall be 1500 mm. (c) In case there is a difference of level, slope ways shall be provided with a slope of 1: 12. (d) Handrails shall be provided for ramps / slope ways. Stairways: Stairways with open riser & provision of nosing are not permitted in such building. Lifts: Whenever lift is required as per bye-laws, provisions of at least one lift shall be made for the wheel chair user with the following car dimensions of lift recommended for passenger lift for 13 persons capacity by Bureau of Indian Standard.
Clear internal depth 1100 mm Clear internal width 2000 mm Entrance door width 910 mm A handrail not less than 600 mm long at 900 mm above floor level shall be fixed adjacent to the control panel. The lift lobby shall be of an inside measurement of 1800 mm X 2000 or more. The Braille signage will be posted outside the lifts. Operational details of lifts shall confirm to the National Building Code (NBC) and will be the responsibility of designer as well as manufacturer.
Toilets: One special WC in a set of toilet shall be provided for the use of handicapped with essential provision of washbasin near the entrance for the handicapped. a) The minimum size shall be 1500 mm X 1750 mm. (b) Minimum clear opening of the door shall be 900 mm and the door shall swing out / sliding type. (c) Suitable arrangement for vertical / horizontal handrails with 50 mm clearance from wall shall be made in the toilet. (d) The WC seat shall be 500 mm from the floor. Refuge: An alternative to immediate evacuation of a building via staircases and / or lifts is the movement of disabled persons to areas of safety within a building. If possible, they could remain there until the fire is controlled and extinguished or until rescued by fire fighters. It is useful to have the provision of a refuge area, usually at the fire protected stair landing on each floor that can safety hold one or two wheelchairs. Have doorways with clear opening width of 900 m and complying with Section 4. 6; and Have an alarm switch installed between 900 mm and 1200 mm from the floor level.
References Adaptive Environments Center, Inc. and Barrier Free Environments, Inc. , "The Americans with Disabilities Act Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal. " USA, 31 March 1992. 12 pages. American National Standards Institute. American National Standard for Buildings and Facilities: Providing Accessibility and Usability for Physically Handicapped People.
New York, 1986. 84 pages. Beckman, Mats. Building for Everyone. Stockholm, Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning, 1976. 108 pages. The Canadian Paraplegic Association, Manitoba Division.
Access: A Guide for Architects and Designers. Second Edition, Manitoba, Canada, the Canadian Paraplegic Association, Manitoba Division, 1989.
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